Pokémon Scarlet and Violet | 7-Star Decidueye Tera Raid Prep

In this guide, you will learn everything you need to know about the new 7-Star Unrivaled Decidueye Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. The beloved Alolan Grass starter has made its way to Paldea with a sparkly new Tera type, a wide range of moves and some of the best items around and this guide will tell you everything you need to prepare for the raid, whether solo or in a team.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet | 7-Star Decidueye Tera Raid Prep

The next 7-Star Tera Raid event has made its way to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with the addition of Unrivalled Decidueye. This incredibly popular Alolan Grass starter joins the ranks of Charizard, Cinderace, Greninja and Pikachu as the next 7-Star Tera Pokémon, and it is here with a brand new Tera Type. This is the only way to get Decidueye (or Rowlet and Dartrix) in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet so any collectors or fans of Alola will certainly want to try their hand at this Tera Raid. Come prepared, though, as it’s going to be tough. 

7-Star Raids are the pinnacle piece of endgame content in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, serving as difficult boss encounters against Pokémon with a variety of interesting and unique mechanics. You’ll need to strategize and plan every part of your attack before going into one of these Raids and the Decidueye one is no exception. These Tera Pokémon have a ton of coverage, and access to a large number of moves and are insanely strong, making them highly desirable to any trainer. The 7-Star Raids are also the best sources of endgame items like Herba Mystica ingredients, Ability Patches and Tera Shards.

Here’s everything you need to know to prep for the 7-Star Decidueye Tera Raid battle in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Want more Pokémon Scarlet and Violet content and articles? You can find more here on KeenGamer:

  1. How to Increase Your Shiny Odds in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  2. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: Ultimate Sandwich Guide
  3. How to Change Your Pokémon’s Tera Type in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  4. The Best Pokémon for Tera Raid Battles in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
  5. How to Catch and Evolve Gimmighoul in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

How to Unlock 7-Star Raids

Before you can tackle the 7-Star Tera Raid, you first have to unlock 6-Star Raids. To do this, a few key things need to be undertaken and completed.

  1. Beat all 3 of the Main Story Quests (Nemona’s Victory Road, Arven’s Path of Legends and Penny’s Starfall Street).
  2. Travel to and beat the final boss of the game in Area Zero.
  3. Challenged all of the Gym Leaders to a rematch.
  4. Participated in and beat the first Academy Ace Tournament.

At this point, your form teacher Mr Jacq will contact you. Energy from Area Zero has begun to flow stronger all over Paldea and he wants you to fight some Tera Raid battles for his research. You’ll need to complete 10 4-Star or 5-Star Tera Raids of any Type or Pokémon. The only stipulation is that you must host these battles yourself as any Raids you join over the Poké Portal will not count toward the total.

An Important Call

An Important Call

Once all of the Raids have been bested, you’ll once again be contacted by Mr Jacq. This time, you will be warned of some dangerous 6-Star Raids that will pop up around the map: these are marked by black crystals and black Tera Raid icons on the map to distinguish them from other Raids. It is at this point that the 7-Star Raids have been unlocked.

Compared to other Raids, 7-Star (and other Event Raids) have sparkly edges to their map icons and unique animations added to their Tera Crystals. For Unrivaled Decidueye, you’ll be on the lookout for a Flying-Type Tera Raid with a sparkling edge. When you’ve found one on the map and travel to it, you’ll find a Black Crystal surrounded by swirling lights and purple energy. 

From this point on, simply interact with the Tera Crystal to start the fight.

7-Star Crystal

7-Star Crystal

General Information on 7-Star Decidueye

When Decidueye was first revealed, many were shocked that it was a Grass/Ghost-type Pokémon. Now, as a 7-Star Raid, Decidueye has traded that in for a new Flying Tera Type.

Like with the other 7-Star Raids, you will want to get your main Pokémon up to level 100 before attempting to battle this mighty foe. 7-Star Tera Raids are intended to be the most difficult form of endgame content in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and you’ll need every advantage you can get to take them down. These Pokémon are all scaled at level 100 and will be that level when you catch them, so make sure to bring something that can compete, especially if you plan on playing co-op.

Next, investing in your Pokémon’s EVs, IVs and nature will undoubtedly help increase your chances of beating this bird. If you have the time (and most importantly, the resources) it is highly advised to try and use hyper training, breeding or vitamins to increase the potential of your partner to better face this Tera Raid. However, it is certainly not a requirement and you can still take down any of their 7-Star Pokémon using Pokémon that aren’t 100% optimised. We will still provide recommended natures and stat spreads for your convenience. 

7-Star Decidueye

7-Star Decidueye

Release Date

7-Star Decidueye is another more typical Raid when compared to the last 7-Star Raid, which was the strange Pokémon Day Celebration Pikachu. Decidueye is much more in line with Charizard, Greninja and Cinderace, as it will be available twice over a single week (instead of the usual two-week run). You can encounter 7-Star Decidueye on: 

  • Friday, March 17th 2023 (00:00 UTC) to Sunday, March 19th (23:59 UTC)
  • Friday, March 24th 2023 (00:00 UTC) to Sunday, March 26th (23:59 UTC)

If you do not manage to beat and catch the 7-Star Decidueye before the event ends, it will become unobtainable to you and you will be unable to catch it. It is a possibility that Decidueye and the other previous 7-Star Pokémon could rerun sometime in the future, but that has not been confirmed so try and get your hands on it as soon as possible. 

The Calm Before the Storm

The Calm Before the Storm

Moveset

Decidueye has a long list of available moves that it will use to try and best you during the course of its Tera Raid run. Those moves are:

  • Spirit Shackle (Ghost Type, Physical)
  • Brave Bird (Flying Type, Physical)
  • Low Kick (Fighting Type, Physical)
  • Leaf Blade (Grass Type, Physical)

Decidueye’s normal moveset is full of a good amount of coverage. Brave Bird is its main STAB move and will deal a ton of damage to you (and a little bit of damage to Decidueye itself) whereas Leaf Blade and Spirit Shackle are going to be good deterrents for many possible Pokémon. Additionally, there’s also Low Kick, a dangerous attack that effectively stops one of Decidueye’s main weaknesses from coming to the field. 

The more interesting mechanics of Decidueye come to light from its additional moves. Just like Greninja and Cinderace, Decidueye is packing a few extra things that it can utilise to get an edge over you and your team, but even compared to Raids of the past Decidueye is pushing it a little far. Not only has it got access to Feather Dance to lower your team’s Attack and Swords Dance to raise its Attack, but also has an extra damaging move in the form of Air Cutter. This gives Decidueye a total of 7 unique moves that it can use, including 2 STAB moves and an Attack buff.

Interestingly, Decidueye seems to have a bit of weakness when compared to some of the other Raids. Unlike Cinderace, Greninja or even Pikachu, Decidueye will not begin the battle by using a unique move: it won’t use Swords Dance, Feather Dance or any attacking moves before you do. This means that, if you’re faster than it (which isn’t hard thanks to Decidueye’s low base Speed) you will be able to get an attack off before it can, something not possible in other Raids. 

What Decidueye can, and will, do is use moves back to back. Whenever it can get off an attack, it will likely follow it up immediately with one of its additional moves. Each turn will make it more dangerous or you far weaker (if you have a Physical Attacker) so be prepared to deal with that. Also, it will negate your stat bonuses on round 2, stopping you from doing any major buffs at the start of the battle.

The Battle Begins

The Battle Begins

Resistances and Weaknesses

As a Flying Type, Decidueye has a fair amount of weaknesses and resistances. 

  • Immune to: Ground Types
  • Resistant to: Bug, Fighting and Grass Types
  • Weak to: Electric, Rock and Ice

One of the biggest issues with this Raid is how many types of coverage Decidueye is packing. Not only does it have the STAB Brave Bird to stop any major Pokémon outside of the three types it is weak to, but it also has Low Kick counter Rock types. Leaf Blade and Spirit Shackle aren’t anything to scoff at, either, and will likely hit very hard no matter what, especially with Decidueye’s high Attack stat. 

As such, the best types to look at for this Tera Raid will likely be Electric and Ice types. They both resist Brave Bird and Air Cutter, Decidueye’s only STAB moves, and will take neutral damage from most of its other attacks. Electric will likely slightly skirt ahead of Ice thanks to being a more defensive and accessible type in general.

The main thing you’ll want to keep in mind here is that all of Decidueye’s damaging moves are Physical, meaning that bringing a Pokémon that can take hits with high Defence will be the play. Additionally, you’ll also want to consider bringing a Special attacker as opposed to a Physical one thanks to Feather Dance, even though Decidueye typically has lower Defence than Special Defence. If you can find a Pokémon that fits both of these categories – a bulky Electric type that deals primarily Special damage – you’ll be sitting pretty and in the best possible position to go against 7-Star Decidueye.

Flying Tera Type

Flying Tera Type

Miraidon

Miraidon Build

Type: Dragon/Electric (Electric Tera Type preferred)

Ability: Hadron Engine

Item: Terrain Extender / Shell Bell

  • Parabolic Charge (Electric Type, Special)
  • Charge Beam (Electric Type, Special)
  • Electro Drift (Electric Type, Status)
  • Charge (Electric Type, Status)

Stat Spread: Modest Nature + 252 Spe. Attack, 252 Speed, 6 Defence

Miraidon Pokdex

Miraidon Pokdex

Strategy

Miraidon is possibly the single best choice if you want to quickly run through the 7-Star Decidueye Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Not only does it have great attacking power that isn’t negated by Decidueye’s Feather Dance, but it has pretty good bulk and resistance to a lot of what will be coming your way. 

To begin, Miraidon is a Dragon/Electric type. This means that on top of the Electric resisting Brave Bird and Air Cutter, you’ll also resist Leaf Blade as well. This cuts down Decidueye’s strongest moves, allowing you to deal with the much more manageable Spirit Shackle and Low Kick. These resistances are paired with some nice Defensive bulk that should allow Miraidon to survive anything Decidueye has at its disposal. 

In terms of offence, Miraidon is an even better story. Charge Beam is an excellent choice for the early stages of the fight, allowing you to deal damage, build Tera Orb charge and have the potential to raise your Special Attack while you’re at it. Charge is also an option if you want to sweep Decidueye in the later stages of the battle, especially considering that it likely won’t have anything to stop you from setting up. Parabolic Charge is here to keep you healthy alongside the Shell Bell, and Electro Drift will be your main source of damage once you Terastalize.

The main difficulty with Miraidon is that only Violet players have easy access to it: Scarlet players who can’t trade or already own this Legendary will have to scavenge for something else. If you can get your hands on a Miraidon, though, there’s no better option and you can easily sweep the Raid with this Pokémon at your disposal. 

If you want a general play-by-play on how to use Miraidon:

  1. Use Charge Beam until you reach the required Tera Orb charge to Terastalize. Any Special Attack buffs you receive before round 2 will be stripped away, but any after that point will become a massive boon. 
  2. Once you have Terastalized, start using Electro Drift to shred through Decidueye’s health. You can pair this with Charge to boost the damage even further.
  3. If you’re starting to run low on health, switch to using Parabolic Charge until you’re healthy enough to return to step 2.
  4. Rinse and repeat until Decidueye falls.
Miraidon is the best option for this Tera Raid, but it is exclusive to Pokémon Violet | Pokémon 7-Star Decidueye

The Legendary Miraidon

Iron Hands

Iron Hands Build

Type: Electric/Fighting (Electric Tera Type preferred)

Ability: Quark Drive

Item: Shell Bell

  • Belly Drum (Normal Type, Status)
  • Thunder Punch (Electric Type, Physical)
  • Electric Terrain (Electric Type, Status)
  • Drain Punch (Fighting Type, Physical)

Stat Spread: Adamant Nature + 252 Attack, 252 Defence, 6 HP

Iron Hands Pokdex

Iron Hands Pokdex

Iron Hands Strategy

Another excellent pick for Violet players is the infamous Iron Hands, one of the best new Paradox Pokémon to join the game. Iron Hands plays a bit more aggressively than Miraidon and it likely won’t have the bulk of the Legendary, but it can dish out some insanely high damage without much investment or set-up. 

In terms of defences, Iron Hands is bulky but it won’t be resisting much of Decidueye’s move pool. In fact, you’ll be taking neutral damage from everything that Decidueye uses, making moves like Brave Bird and Air Cutter a bit more intimidating than they would be on another Pokémon like Miraidon.

The trade-off for those weaker defensive capabilities is a moveset that can absolutely destroy Decidueye without the need to set up for 5 turns. Belly Drum is your main source of buffs, granting you an instant +6 Attack at the cost of 50% health (which you will easily earn back using the Shell Bell). Paired with Thunder Punch, Iron Hands is pretty unstoppable in this Tera Raid and it’ll tear Decidueye down to size very easily. Do note that if Decidueye does decide to repeatedly target you with Feather Dance, the Attack bonus from Belly Drum will become less significant, but this shouldn’t be a major issue.

Once again, the main problem here is that Iron Hands is a Pokémon Violet exclusive. Scarlet will have to trade to get one and, while it will certainly be easier than getting a Legendary, it still serves as a roadblock for many. Luckily, Iron Hands can also be used well with Miraidon, taking advantage of Hadron Engine to boost its Attack using Quark Drive

Here’s how you should generally be using Iron Hands when battling Decidueye: 

  1. Begin by using Thunder Punch. You cannot begin setting up until round 2, so getting off some easy damage (as well as the chance to Paralyze) is better than nothing.
  2. Use Belly Drum round 2 to grant yourself those beefy Attack buffs. If Decidueye is being mean, you’ll be targeted with a -2 Attack loss from Feather Dance, but that’ll still be enough to carry you through the rest of the Raid.
  3. From here on out simply spam Thunder Punch. The high damage paired with Shell Bell will keep you alive and deal enough damage to tear Decidueye apart.
  4. Terastalize whenever you can and continue spamming Thunder Punch.
  5. Rinse and repeat until the end of the Raid.
Easy Attacker Iron Hands

Easy Attacker Iron Hands

Bellibolt

Bellibolt Build

Type: Electric (Electric Tera Type preferred)

Ability: Static

Item: Shell Bell

  • Reflect (Psychic Type, Status)
  • Charge Beam (Electric Type, Special)
  • Charge (Electric Type, Special)
  • Discharge (Electric Type, Special) / Zap Cannon (Electric Type, Special)

Stat Spread: Modest Nature + 252 Spe. Attack, 252 Defence, 252 HP

Bellibolt Pokedex

Bellibolt Pokedex

Strategy

Bellibolt is the best Electric type for those who cannot get their hands on either Iron Hands or Miraidon and it will serve a similar (if slightly clunkier) role in the Raid. It has good Special Attack allowing it to deal good damage, respectable bulk and the ability to aid the entire team with defences. In some ways, Bellibolt may serve as an excellent supportive Pokémon to the offensive powerhouses we just spoke about. 

As a pure Electric type, Bellibolt is going to resist Brave Bird and Air Cutter very nicely, but take neutral damage from everything else in Decidueye’s repertoire. Luckily, it can get Reflect. While this will take a turn of set-up, granting your entire team an extra layer of Defence against a Pokémon that can only do Physical moves will go a long way in making the fight go much smoother.

For attacking moves, you’ll be running with a similar set-up as Miraidon. Charge Beam is there for the start of the battle, giving you a damaging move to build Tera Orb charge while still offering a chance at Special Attack buffs. Then, when you’re able to Terastalize, start spamming Discharge as your main source of damage (or Zap Cannon if you want a lot more damage, at the cost of only 50% accuracy). Compared to Miraidon you’ll be far more reliant on the Shell Bell, but this hopefully won’t be too much of an issue.

In terms of how to utilise Bellibolt in the Decidueye Tera Raid Battle:

  1. Start off by using Discharge. Any Defence or Special Attack buffs from either Reflect or Charge Beam will be wiped in round 2, so just get out some easy damage to start. 
  2. Once Decidueye has negated stat bonuses, use Reflect.
  3. Then begin spamming Charge Beam until you can Terastalize.
  4. From that point, combine Charge and Discharge to deal good damage to Decidueye while keeping your health high with the Shell Bell. 
  5. Rinse and repeat until the end of the battle.
Just a Little Guy

Just a Little Guy

And that was everything you needed to know in order to prep for the 7-Star Decidueye Tera Raid in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. A quick reminder that this Raid event will run from March 17th to the 19th, and then again the following week from March 24th to the 26th. Happy hunting, trainers!

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